Customer Reviews

Strange Creek Singers

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I bought this record years ago when it came out. It wasn't well publicized; even people I knew who knew some of the singers hadn't heard of it. They trouped over to my pad in the hills and hollers of Crown Heights to marvel at this on my crummy stereo. Sadly it got lost in a marital break up.

For decades I have searched used records stores and then the Internet looking for it. I thought the title was different. Thought it was one of Mike Seeger's Farewell Reunion records--which might give you an idea how great those are!!!

It didn't used to be called Get Acquainted Waltz. It deserves the title. Hazel Dickens' performance on the get Acquainted Waltz can only be compared with Louis Armstrong's "West End Blues" or Edith Piaf's "Non, Je ne regrette rien" or the two track version of Cherokee that Basie cut around 1937-38 at the end of his Decca contract with the unique paring of Chu Berry and Lester Young. In other words, it is one of the great works of human expression in music of the 20th Century.

It is a great and stellar performance. Anyone with pretenses of singing any kind of music, should listen and try to emulate it. I warn you, many singers will simply give up, like alto players who threw their horns in the river once they heard Charlie Parker.

I haven't heard this record played since around 1976, but tonight before I got a notice of it being out from the great Mr. Tribe, a true friend of Old Time Music, tonight playing music with friends before people who can book me for gigs, I talked about songs on it about 5 times and sang a couple not knowing I would ever find it.

Buy this CD rather. Listen to it. Tell everyone who has ears to buy it, listen to it, and then struggle to make music like this. Struggle to live your life the way Hazel Dickens sings.

A classic album of the old-timey music revival, uniting the considerable talents of Hazel & Alice along with Mike Seeger and Tracy Schwartz, of the New Lost City Ramblers. They open the album with a shape-note song ("When I Can Read My Titles Clear"), just to let us know that they've got the *real* low-down on this raspy old mountain music... Then they gradually ease into more melodic, bluegrassy terrain. It's great stuff from start to finish, originally recorded between 1968-70.